Her Christmas Protector Page 3

  “We’re still not certain if it’s a he or she, and I disagree, Superintendent Todd. This is my assignment and that was my patrol last night. I have a right to know who’s working with me.”

  “You know as well as I do that there are some cases we need a little extra help on, Bryce. And I appreciate that you kept your eye on the chaplain.”

  “On Zora Krasny, you mean.” He’d gotten something out of her after she’d been examined at least. Her curt answers to his questions hadn’t eased his mind over who she was working for, however. She’d admitted she was a licensed counselor, not a minister, and had lived in Silver Valley for almost two years.

  And had never contacted him or any of their high school acquaintances.

  Whatever.

  “Yes, Zora Krasny. Any reason why you’ve taken such an interest, other than for your operational needs, Bryce?”

  “Yes, sir. We went to Silver Valley High School together.”

  Superintendent Todd’s eyes narrowed and Bryce realized he’d never seen the superintendent taken aback by anything. He’d surprised him with that one, though.

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes.” He shrugged. “She went to the naval academy, I went to Penn State, and I never heard from her again.”

  “Sounds like a broken-heart issue. Not my problem, Bryce.”

  “No, sir. We still have a killer out there.” He said that as much to remind himself. Zora’s presence was distracting to say the least.

  Damn it.

  “Yes, and I fully trust you’re going to flush him out, Bryce. We came close last night.”

  “We did. Zora told me she caught a good glimpse of a male vendor at the game who she believes was suspicious.”

  “Any chance whoever shot her saw her wig come off?”

  “No, sir. I only noticed it because she was lying on the ground.”

  “I don’t like that she was ambushed at her house.”

  Bryce didn’t, either. Especially since he’d followed her home, and hadn’t noticed any other vehicles tailing and none in the surrounding area. That meant the shooter had been waiting at her house before they got there, and that the shooter most likely wasn’t the same person they’d tracked at the football game. But they couldn’t even be certain of that. Anyone who knew the local farm roads could have beaten the SVPD units to the scene.

  Whoever the shooter was, he knew where Zora lived. Whether he thought she was Colleen Hammermill the minister or not was irrelevant.

  Zora was in danger.

  * * *

  “What do you mean I can’t work out for a couple of weeks?” Zora hated how weak and squeaky her voice came out. She felt stronger than that, save for the pain that radiated through her rib cage. Whatever medication the doctors had prescribed last night hadn’t been strong enough. She’d barely slept during her mandatory overnight stay for observation at Silver Valley Regional Hospital.

  “You took a bullet to your chest, Zora. Your heart stopped momentarily from the blow—if you hadn’t had your vest on we wouldn’t be enjoying this conversation, and you wouldn’t have another workout to look forward to, ever.” Dr. Mark Lassiter eyed her over his reading glasses, his expression uncompromising. They’d met when she did her hospital rotation as part of her counseling degree and struck up a decent rapport—enough that he’d asked her out on a date. She’d politely refused. Luckily, he hadn’t harbored any ill feelings about it.

  She’d had top-notch care at the Harrisburg area’s new hospital, which sat on a sprawling medical campus known for its trauma expertise.

  “I’m grateful to be here.” She winced as she struggled to stand. “I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass.”

  Mark’s hand touched her shoulder and she sat back down.

  “Trust me, in a few weeks you’ll be back in your yoga classes or whatever you’re so fired up about missing. But for now you need to rest.”

  “Fine. And yoga’s not as easy as you think, by the way.” Since she’d left the navy she’d found a lot of joy in yoga, as it balanced her more than her running routine did.

  Mark smiled.

  “I’m in a power yoga class and I know what a good workout it is.” He held up his hand. “And guess what? You’ll be relieved to know I moved on—I’m engaged.”

  “Mark, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you. Really.” Pain twisted through her torso as she took too deep a breath in her exuberance.

  “Thank you.”

  “This is going to hurt when the drugs wear off, isn’t it? That’s what you’re not telling me. I won’t want to work out for a while, will I?”

  “It’ll be uncomfortable, yes. About the time your bruise turns yellow, you’ll be ready to ease back into your fitness routine.”

  Mark turned at a sharp knock right before Bryce walked through the hospital room door.

  “Detective. Just in time.”

  “In time for what?” Zora asked. “Wait—no. I don’t need any more help.” No way was Bryce going to help her home. He’d seen enough of her vulnerability in the past twenty-four hours.

  “Trust me, I don’t want to be the one to take you home but it’s Silver Valley PD policy—we take care of our own. You took a bullet from a criminal in our territory. That makes you one of us. I’m grateful you agreed to the bulletproof vest before you said the invocation last night.”

  Nice save, Bryce. He left nothing undone. Mark wouldn’t suspect what she did in her hours away from counseling. To him, she’d been a lucky victim, not a willing participant in the effort to take down a murderer.

  “That was a good call on your part, Bryce.” Mark looked at his watch, then back at Zora. “I’ll leave you now—remember what I said. No cheating.”

  “Got it.”

  Mark left the room and Zora’s skin prickled at her excruciating awareness of Bryce’s proximity.

  It had to be the narcotics. They’d wear off as soon as he got her home.

  “You look like hell.” His gaze assessed her with practiced attention to detail.

  “Why, thank you. You’re as charming as I remember.”

  “And you’re as untrustable as ever.”

  “That’s not even a word. You mean unreliable.”

  “No, I meant it the way I said it. I don’t trust you any more than I did when you stood me up.”

  “Really? We’re going to discuss something as silly as a prom, something that happened fifteen years ago?”

  “No, we’re not. And if it wasn’t so important, why do you remember exactly how long it’s been?”

  She wouldn’t let him make her feel pretty, despite the way he was looking at her.

  Nor would she let him make her feel desirable.

  “Let it go, Bryce.”

  “Ready to go home?” A nursing assistant pushed a wheelchair into the room and stopped at the bed. She looked at Zora, then Bryce.

  Bryce didn’t budge.

  “Here, let me get you into the chair,” the assistant said.

  “I’ve got her.”

  “My parents...”

  “Were notified last night. I called them myself. Your mother is at your house waiting for you. I spoke to her earlier.”

  Strong, steady hands grasped her forearms and her vision was filled with a white dress shirt, red tie and Bryce’s chest. It wasn’t the thin, teenage physique she remembered. Because she did remember every last thing about Bryce.

  He smelled more mature, too. More sexy, as his cologne or soap was spicy and hinted at the power that his muscles demonstrated. She didn’t consider herself a petite woman by any means, but he moved her easily.

  “I’ve got you. Take it nice and slow.” His voice, God, his voice! Deep, gravelly and all adult, yet still achingly familiar.

  She’d missed him. She’d missed them. The bond they’d shared for the better part of six years, through their worst growing pains and hormonal fluctuations. They’d each dated others, but only fleetingly. Mere experimentation.

  Nothing had
come close to the chemistry and friendship that had grown between them.

  You were kids. You were a lost girl. It’s history.

  “I’m not an invalid.” Still, she leaned into him—it was that or risk crying out in pain and humiliating herself in front of both him and the aide.

  “There you go. Nice and easy.”

  He held her the entire way down to the chair, and made sure she was settled as comfortably as possible.

  Blue-gray eyes were level with hers.

  “You okay?”

  “Yes.” She nodded to emphasize that he wasn’t affecting her, wasn’t doing anything but helping her get into the blasted wheelchair.

  “You’re a real pro there, sir. You do this before?” The nurse’s aide all but drooled at Bryce. Zora damned the chair for not being powered. Zipping out of the room and back into her life without Bryce was beyond tempting. Of course, she’d have to run over Bryce to escape since he was standing in front of her.

  “A few times.” Bryce left Zora’s vision and she was being propelled through the door, down the hall to the elevators.

  As the aide chatted up Bryce, Zora allowed her mind to wander. Her first concern was her mother’s safety. Mom would be safe staying with her, since Zora had Butternut as an early-warning detector, and of course, her weapons. They were in a hidden storage compartment—she usually only kept one pistol accessible and used whatever the Trail Hikers issued for a particular mission, if any. Before the football game last night she’d signed out a few different weapons, just in case they didn’t draw out the killer in a predictable fashion.

  She’d never expected to be targeted on her own property. Not without noticing a tail. Bryce had been behind her but not close enough that she could see him. The killer had beaten him to the house.

  “Wait here while I get the car.” Bryce left her at the hospital’s portico. His butt was too cute, and it annoyed her to admit she was enjoying the view.

  “He’s such a sweet guy. You’re lucky.”

  Zora grunted and tried to clear her dry throat. It was like talking through cobwebs and exacerbated her nausea.

  Pain meds—not her favorites.

  “He’s a colleague.”

  “None of my colleagues look at me like he looks at you. I’d say he’s interested.”

  Zora craned her neck to look at the aide’s name tag. Upon closer inspection, the woman was much younger than she realized. The drugs were really playing with her reasoning. It wasn’t Bryce.

  “Nice to meet you, Heidi Kurtz.”

  “Same here, ma’am.”

  “You really like your job, don’t you?”

  “I do. And I’m taking classes at HACC to get my RN. Only two more semesters to go.” Heidi referred to Harrisburg Area Community College.

  “That’s the ticket, Heidi. Go after your dreams.”

  “Is being a police officer your dream?”

  “Oh, I’m not...” She was a beat too slow but at least Zora’s brain caught up to her mouth before she blabbed anything Heidi didn’t need to know. “Yes, I’ve always wanted to help protect people.”

  “The whole staff was abuzz about your injury. We don’t get a lot of gunshot wounds this side of the river.”

  “They get plenty in the city.” Harrisburg had one of the highest crime rates per capita in the United States. At least her mind hadn’t seized completely.

  “Yeah, that’s where I used to live. I went to elementary school in Dauphin County.”

  “What brought you to the West Shore?” Keeping the aide talking about herself would prevent her from asking any questions Zora wasn’t prepared to answer.

  Like why she’d taken a bullet to her chest.

  “My grandparents. My father was never around and my mother’s been in and out of rehab, so they raised me.”

  “Good on you for going after what you want. Your grandparents sound like good people.”

  “They’re the best.”

  The quiet engine of a luxury SUV hummed under the portico as Bryce parked his vehicle in front of Zora. It boasted a cheery Christmas wreath on its grille, complete with a red bow.

  “Here’s your ride,” Heidi said.

  Bryce was out of the driver’s seat and at her side before she could even try to stand.

  “Here, give me your bag.” He took the small duffel and placed it on the backseat before he opened the passenger’s door and turned back to her.

  “Thank you, Heidi. You’ve been most helpful.”

  “No problem. It’s my job.”

  Zora didn’t have to look to see the blush she was certain was blazing on Heidi’s cheeks. How could any young woman be immune to the high-voltage smile Bryce flashed at her?

  “Okay, warrior woman, time to roll.”

  Warrior woman?

  “I’m not a warrior.”

  “Save your energy for getting up into the seat.” His breath caressed her face as he leaned toward her and lifted her out of the chair.

  A groan escaped her before she could check it. Damn the drugs and her resulting lack of control!

  “Sorry. I know this hurts like hell, but it’s quicker and easier on you. I don’t think you’re up to climbing steps yet.”

  The impulse to argue with him vanished at his words and she allowed herself to relax against his broad chest. She hadn’t been held for so long, and certainly not by a man she had such a complicated history with. Besides, she was blaming any foolish surrender on the drugs.

  He placed her onto the leather seat as if he was putting an intricate ship into a glass bottle. She giggled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I always laugh when I’m in pain. And it’s kind of silly how nicely you’re treating me.”

  His gaze steadied on her. No drugs could keep the warmth of his nearness from creating a coil of tension in her midsection.

  “It’s my job.”

  He stared at her for a moment before he clicked the seat belt in place and closed the passenger door, leaving her to shiver without his body heat.

  Chapter 3

  She thought he was silly?

  Bryce took a moment to breathe and think before he got back into the driver’s seat. Damn it but he’d wanted to kiss her. And it had been less than twenty-four hours since he’d laid eyes on her again. Maybe it was like they say addiction is—progressive. A drug addict can be straight for two decades but if they pick up again they’re right back where they were when they quit, and they spiral out of control almost immediately.

  He certainly understood what “out of control” meant when it came to his feelings for Zora.

  You weren’t addicted to her. You loved her.

  He’d been a boy, for God’s sake.

  As he settled into the front seat he was immediately impressed by her scent. Under the hospital starchy-clean smell she was still pure Zora. Not floral like the women he’d dated, but spicy, musky.

  Pure sex.

  “Thank you for taking me home. Please tell Superintendent Todd that I’m okay, and appreciate the support.”

  “Save the canned gratitude for your navy life, Zora. We don’t do the fluffy feel-good words here. We’re taking care of you because you’re part of our team. You were hurt while working with us.”

  “Not technically. In fact, if you weren’t there, I might still be lying on the ground. Why were you there, Bryce?”

  Her expression was softer than the grim face she’d put on for him last night and he hoped it was a sign that she wasn’t in as much pain. The drugs certainly weren’t affecting her logic or memory.

  “A hunch. I felt something was off and thought it’d be a good idea to follow you to your place. After I found out it was you, I wondered why you didn’t go back to your old house.”

  “Where Mom and Dad live? No. I bought my own house a couple of years ago. They don’t need their thirty-three-year-old daughter living at home with them.”

  “I never heard you’d moved back.”

  “There wa
s no reason you should have.”

  “It’s not that big a place, Zora. You haven’t touched base with anyone from high school, have you?”

  “Why would I? You were my best...” She abruptly stopped speaking. Just like she’d abruptly ended their relationship all those years ago.

  It had been a lot of years. He thought it was nothing more than an adolescent memory. But seeing her last night, finding something inexplicably familiar about her, and then his reaction when she’d been shot...

  “What made you decide to go into law enforcement?”

  “Who says I’m in law enforcement?” She had the gall to play him, after he’d seen her in action last night.

  “You’re not on any force locally from what I can tell, and I’ve found your counseling credentials are all up-to-date. But you weren’t acting like any counselor I’ve ever met last night.”

  “Who says I’m not a chaplain?”

  “That you’re not a minister? Oh, I don’t know, Zora. That god-awful wig? Your Kevlar vest? Your loaded weapon?”

  “I’m a counselor. That’s what I got out of the navy for.”

  “And yet you were playing undercover agent last night.”

  “You know what you saw. I can’t comment on it, Bryce. You have to understand that. You’ve been in this kind of life long enough.”

  Yes, he had been.

  “So why did you get a degree in counseling? What’s the attraction there?”

  “Life. Wanting to help people trying to improve their circumstances.”

  Her voice quavered and he noted the pinch lines around her lips.

  “We’ll have you home soon, Zora.”

  He navigated the winding, narrow road that lifted them above Silver Valley into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Leaves glinting with gold flecks remained on a few branches, but most were bare. The ride was as smooth as ever to him but he knew each tiny turn and bump was excruciating to Zora. Bruised ribs were like that.

  “Nice ride you have here, Campbell.”

  “It’s my parents’. You wouldn’t be as comfortable in my old Ford.”

  “The Mustang you drove last night.” She hadn’t missed a thing.

  “Didn’t you want to stay in the navy for the full twenty?”

  “No. Not after the war, after so many moves. It was time to settle down, and I wanted to find something that would allow me to help people more directly. You know, go from the global perspective to the everyday world.”